Dwayne Johnson Is Officially Shane Black’s ‘Doc Savage’

Dwayne Johnson has been rumored for Shane Black’s long-developing adaptation of Doc Savage for some time now. The director of The Nice Guys has been vocal about Johnson being his top choice, and a recent Instagram post only fueled speculation as Johnson revealed he was planning on filming something with Black in 2017 — that something is indeed Doc Savage, confirmed by Johnson in yet another Instagram post earlier today.

Johnson delivered the great — if not terribly surprising — news, noting that he’s been working with screenwriters Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry “to chop up creative and break story on this very cool project.” The actor went on to give a brief history lesson on Doc Savage, a scientist and world-class adventurer who made his debut in pulp magazines back in the ’30s and ’40s and was the inspiration for Superman. Johnson enthusiastically adds, “But here’s the #1 reason I'm excited to become Doc Savage.. HE’S A F*CKING HILARIOUS WEIRDO!”

Doc Savage gives Johnson the chance to show off his comedic skills while playing in familiar action flick territory — and if you’re not familiar with just how funny The Rock can be, you should take a moment to revisit some of his work on SNL, where he’s proven to be quite hilarious.

Shane Black is heading into production on The Predator this fall, and as the increasingly busy Johnson previously noted, the duo won’t team up for Doc Savage until 2017.